Begin by telling the students a story about your day in which there was a problem and a solution. An example would be, “Today I wanted to wear my new sweater to school, but it was raining outside. I didn’t want to get my sweater wet, so I brought my umbrella.”

Ask them to consider the problem and solution in your story.

Explain to students that books are most interesting when there is a problem and a solution. The problem causes drama, which is fun for the reader. The solution ensures a happy ending, which makes the reader happy.

Guided Practice

Introduce the book, Sashi the Scared Little Sheltie by Linda Greiner.

Begin with a picture walk, allowing students to come up with ideas about what the book may be about.

Read the book to the class, pausing to point out problems that Sashi encounters. Encourage the class to tell you the solutions they find. Write these problems and solutions on chart paper or on the board.

When you are finished reading the book, review the problems and solutions that you found in the story. Discuss how fixing these problems helped Sashi to be a happier dog.

Independent Work

Pass out the “Problem and Solution” sheet.

Encourage students to choose one problem and solution from the chart you created as a class.

They should draw a picture for the problem and solution and write one to two sentences that describe it.

Review and Closing

When students are finished, they may share their work with the class.

Review how problem and solutions are important to the plot of a story.

Ask students to share a time that they changed. Give an example such as, you once were afraid of the ocean, but now you love to surf or something similar.

Tell students that characters in books can change just like real people do. Characters can behave one way at the beginning of the story and change into a different type of person at the end.

Explain to students that readers know that a character is changing by reading closely to notice what the character says and/or does throughout the book. Readers should think about:

What is the character saying? What is the character doing? What do these details tell me about the character at different points in the story?

Guided Practice

Introduce the story Sashi the Scared Little Sheltie by Linda Greiner.

As you read, write down on chart paper or the whiteboard some of the things Sashi does that are important. For example, Sashi chases after everything and Sashi is afraid of the flag.

After reading the first half of the book, make the claim that Sashi is a scared little Sheltie. Ask the students to think about whether Sashi will change. Remind them to think about what Sashi does in the second half of the book to determine their answer.

As you read the rest of the book, call on students and record what they notice about what Sashi does.

After you have finished reading, ask partners to discuss the answers to the following questions: Did Sashi change? How do you know? What did she do to make you realize that she made a change? Remind students to think about the details from the chart.

Remind students that whenever they read, they should pay close attention to the things the characters in their books say or do to determine if the character changed.

Independent Work

Explain to students that characters often change because something motivates them to do so.

Pass out the Character Changes Chart.

Using the chart you completed as a class, have students illustrate and describe how Sashi behaved at the beginning of the story, what made her change and how she behaved at the end of the story.

Founded in 1884, the AKC is the recognized and trusted expert in breed, health and training information for dogs. AKC actively advocates for responsible dog ownership and is dedicated to advancing dog sports.